Kayla Rose drew praise from her coach for her work at the service line in Tuesday’s Wolf JV win. (John Fisken photo)
Kayla Rose was on point.
JV matches are as much about improvement as winning, and Tuesday night Rose delivered a big helping of the first while helping her squad to a whole lot of the second.
Rose drew a wave of roars from the partisan crowd when she successfully converted on a string of serves during Coupeville’s 25-11, 25-20, 18-25 win over visiting Klahowya.
After the win, which lifted the Wolf JV squad to 4-4 overall, 1-0 in Olympic League play, coach Heidi Wyman was quick to praise the sophomore.
The serves were the first overhand ones Rose had converted in a match — always a big moment as a young spiker develops their game — and she ended up hitting on 75% of them, a number that drew a huge smile from her coach.
Playing second, in case Klahowya needed to get out of town and catch a ferry, the JV spikers came out on fire and never really let up.
After busting through a first set in a blink of an eye, with Sarah Wright and Kameryn St Onge raining down death from above with their spikes, the Wolves hit cruise control the rest of the way.
Nicole Lester dropped an ace that hit the floor and skidded under a diving Eagle to kick things off in the second set, then Kenzi LaRue caught fire.
She dropped in a couple of red-hot spikes for winners, before eventually closing out the set at the line, where she earned a key point with a serve that singed the net, stopped in mid-air, then flopped over and hit the floor for an unexpected ace.
Allison Wenzel chipped in with a service ace herself — this one catching the very back of the end-line — while she, Ashley Menges and Maggie Crimmins had picture-perfect plays for winners.
“Ashley had a fantastic match, talking, hustling, keeping everyone up,” Wyman said.
While the Wolves dropped the third set after their victory was already assured, they didn’t go down without a battle.
Wright resurfaced as a clear and present danger to Klahowya’s health, libero Maddy Hilkey kept everyone working as a well-oiled unit and the best play of the match was set up by one of Rose’s successful serves.
In the ensuing rally, Menges laid out to save the point with a desperation tip.
When Klahowya managed to rip the ball right back, Wenzel rose up and snuffed out the play with her own tip, dropping the ball into the only patch of open space to be found on the floor.
Cue the celebration, especially from the young girl sitting to my left in the bleachers.
One of the Wolf Buddies who are linked up with CHS volleyball players, she shrieked like a banshee all match, and the Menges/Wenzel tag team delighted her like no other.
Coupeville Sports 